Math Problem Statement

A company that builds custom computers offers 3 hard drive sizes, 6 memory sizes, 4 graphics cards, and 2 display options.  If customers choose one of each customization, how many computer configurations does the company offer? Provide your answer below:

Solution

To determine the total number of possible computer configurations the company offers, we can use the multiplication principle of counting. This principle states that if there are multiple choices to be made, and each choice is independent of the others, the total number of combinations is the product of the number of options for each choice.

In this case:

  • There are 3 hard drive sizes.
  • There are 6 memory sizes.
  • There are 4 graphics cards.
  • There are 2 display options.

So, the total number of configurations is:

3×6×4×2=1443 \times 6 \times 4 \times 2 = 144

Therefore, the company offers 144 different computer configurations.

Would you like more details, or do you have any questions?

Here are 5 related questions to consider:

  1. If the company added a new hard drive size, how many configurations would be possible?
  2. What if customers could choose multiple hard drives in one configuration? How would that affect the total?
  3. If two more graphics card options were introduced, how many configurations would there be?
  4. How does the multiplication principle apply to a situation with dependent choices?
  5. What is the probability of randomly selecting a configuration with a specific hard drive and memory size?

Tip: Always check if the choices are independent when using the multiplication principle of counting.

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Math Problem Analysis

Mathematical Concepts

Multiplication Principle of Counting

Formulas

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Theorems

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Suitable Grade Level

Grades 6-8